Virtual Uffizi
January 28, 2006 – 4:37 pm Virtual Uffizi: the complete catalogue of the Uffizi Gallery of Florence.
The “Virtual Uffizi” web site makes available all texts and most of the images, and provides information on the Gallery and on visits, buying tickets online etc. etc. Very useful and another step in the virtual museums/gallery direction.
The Galleria degli Uffizi is one of the most famous museums of paintings and sculpture in the world, and its four centuries of history make it one of the the oldest- it was opened to the public in 1591.
Its collection of Primitive and Renaissance paintings, as well as important collection of classical sculpture, includes masterpieces including works by Giotto, Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Correggio, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo and Caravaggio.
The Gallery occupies the top floor of a building which was erected by Giorgio Vasari around 1570 to house the administrative offices of the Tuscan State.Started by Grand-duke Francesco I and added to by various members of the Medici family who were keen collectors as well as patrons of the arts.
A famous Botticelli painting is housed at the Uffizi: The Birth of Venus (c. 1485-86) which was painted for the villa of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’ Medici at Castello.
More on Renaissance Art here : Page on Botticelli